Today, a decreasing number of people are willing to eat or drink foodstuffs and use cosmetic products which are colored synthetically, resulting in a steady growth of the market for natural colorants. Thus, a natural color, especially a natural blue colorant that is stable at low pH and to temperatures used in processing, would be of significant worldwide commercial interest. The only natural blue colors commercially feasible today are those derived from gardenia fruits (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis). However gardenia blue is not currently available in US and Europe markets, it is only available in some Asian markets as a safe color product for food/drug applications.
Gardenia fruit contains a large amount of iridoids such as geniposide, gardenoside, genipin-1-b-gentiobioside, geniposidic acid and genipin (Endo, T. and Taguchi, H. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 1973). Among them genipin is a key compound contributing to the gardenia blue whenever it reacts with amino acids (U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,921). Currently gardenia blue is made as a chemical reaction product using geniposide extracted from Gardenia juice, purified genipin, or genipin derivatives, with isolated amino acids. In contrast, the process of the present invention utilizes whole fruit, puree or juice of genipin-containing plants to provide a natural color juice or concentrate.
Genipin and other iridoid compounds, such as genipic acid, genipin gentiobioside, geniposide and geniposidic acid are found also in the fruits of Genipa americana, also known as Genipap, or Huito, a wild plant of tropical Latin American. The mature fruits of Genipa americana have been commonly used by local people to make cooling drinks, jellies, sherbet, ice cream, sweet preserves, syrup, a soft drink—genipapada, wine, a potent liqueur, and tanning extract. Green or unripe fruits are used as a color source to paint faces and bodies for adornment, to repel insects, and to dye clothing, pottery, hammocks, utensils and basket materials a bluish-purple. The fruit and juices also have medicinal properties and syrups are used as cold and cough medicine. Flowers and bark of Genipa americana also have medicinal properties.
Genipa americana is also a natural source of iron, riboflavin and anti-bacterial substances, apart from the carbohydrates, sugar, proteins, ash and malic acid in its fruits. The principal biochemical compounds of Genipa americana include: calcium, phosphorous, vitamin C, and caffeine, caterine, genipic acid, genipin, genipin gentiobioside, genipinic acid, geniposide, geniposidic acid, gardenoside, genamesides A-D, gardendiol, deacetyl asperulosidic acid methyl ester, shanzhiside, glycerides, hydantoin, mannitol, methyl esters, tannic and tartaric acid, and tannins.
The present disclosure relates to the preparation of stable colorants by mixing and co-processing fruit juice, particularly from Genipa americana, with other edible juices or extracts from fruit, vegetable, plant materials, grain, legume, nuts, seeds, animal materials including milk and egg, microbial, and algal materials, which contain amino acids, or polypeptides, or proteins. The product colors are not those expected from simple pigment blending, and the color products have great stability to acidity and heating. The co-processing of Genipa americana fruit with other selected fruit(s) (defined broadly as above to include also grains and animal materials) to obtain the composite juice is simple and effective. The products can be used in a broad range of applications, such as foodstuffs, drugs, nutritional supplements, personal care stuffs, cosmetics, and animal feed.